Sharing the magic of organ donation, the value of running, and crazy days creating a marathon in rural Uganda.

#runbecauseyoucan

I think I've taken this topic too literally and have written a genuine diary of my day spent working on the marathon today. In hindsight I really should have chosen a more eventful day...or just spruced it up with some exotic fibs. Sorry about that...

Questions like this start the discussions that normalise the topic, which in turn normalises transplant recipients, which in turn normalise transplants, which in turn, you guessed it, normalises organ donation- yeehaw!

...sometimes the sadness still finds me, but for the most part it's a healthy sadness. What happened was sad, it's sad that my donor died. It's cruel that I was hoping for it. I feel ashamed of it. And that takes a lot of getting my head around...

I was over the bloody moon to be asked to appear on BBC One's The Big Questions on Sunday...although I don't think my point came across too eloquently! Here is what I wanted to say...if I hadn't been on live television and rather emotional.

...I run because I love running, I really truly honestly do. But I don't run six or seven times a week, when it's dark and cold and my legs hurt, for the love of it. The runs that I have to force myself out of the house to do, I do because my body needs me to...

...After the op I remember a lot more. I remember nurses washing my hair and brushing my teeth. I remember nurses sitting next to me and making me feel better when I cried...

...and so I wanted to thank them. I wanted to do something that I would never ever have been able to do if they hadn't brought me back to life so completely. So it had to be physical, and it had to be big! The biggest empty bit of space I could find + Strava + a GPS tracker + my husband + cake. Thank You NHS, from the bottom of my heart.

In the few days before my transplant, when we were waiting for a donor organ to become available, I have very few memories. Toxins had started reaching my brain and if I wasn't asleep, I was confused most of the time. Here is one of only two clear memories I have...

So, it's been a busy day, by morning I was hanging out on the radio, by afternoon I was vay busy going viral darling. Haha...it's been a wonderful day for spreading the message of the importance of organ donation, and has felt very special thanking my donor so publicly.

After my transplant I was desperate for a blog post like this one, so I hope it gives a little guidance if you're on the recovery journey too.

Something I struggled with big time after my op was how to get back to fitness. With the best will in the world our NHS is so overrun it had no choice but to kick my ass out of hospital the moment I was safe to be let lose (10 days post op). Physiotherapists were, and quite rightly too, saved for those patients that couldn't walk, not those that wanted to run...

Before Christmas I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at Organs for Organs, a Carol Concert with a difference. A collaboration between NHS Organ Donation and Mother London creative agency, hosted to raise awareness for organ donation.

I'll keep saying it because it's true: being able to promote the importance of organ donation is a huge privilege! Being able to do it on the BBC is, well, it's a get-the-red-lippy-on sort of occasion!

One year ago I went from running every day, all over the world, to having less than 48 hours to live. I still have to look at my scar to believe it. This story is an attempt to understand what happened.It was first published in Like the Wind Magazine in July 2017.